agile
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3 Must-Read Books for a Good Agile FoundationIf you are searching for agile knowledge, there are many books outside the current literature that may enlighten you. Some discuss the underpinnings of concepts we consider agile, while others are contemporary business books that present compelling ways to use agile effectively. Here are three Jeff Payne recommends. | 
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Do Most Agile Teams Lack Creativity and Innovation? You can’t solve the problem unless you know what that problem is, and you can’t rekindle your creativity if you just don’t know why you’re doing what you’re doing. Pinpoint your team’s purpose, let everyone on your team contribute, and rekindle the innovative nature at the core of agile. |
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The 5 Levels of Listening: Which Does Your Team Practice?The ways we listen—and not listen—are detailed in the Five Levels of Listening model, which goes from most distracted to most focused. Ideally, we’d all practice the fifth level: empathic listening, where we try to understand what matters to the person who is speaking, delaying our problem-solving and responsiveness. | 
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The Dangers of Underplanning in Your Agile ProjectsAgile coaches often stress the importance of not overplanning because work is later changed or never done at all. But consequently, many teams then fall victim to underplanning and aren't equipped for a successful project. Here are some planning activities that are critical to do before your sprints start. |
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Self-Organization: What Your Scrum Team Can Learn from KindergartenersSome kindergartens are experimenting with new approaches to teaching, including letting students form groups to accomplish tasks that interest them, which also allows them to support and engage with each other. This is self-organization, the heart of Scrum. If five-year-olds can do it, your agile team likely can, too! |
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Scrum Isn’t the Only Path to AgilityScrum can really help a team to become more agile. But that doesn’t mean it is the only way for a team to become agile. Agile is all about self-organizing teams collaborating to find what works for them, so if a nontraditional approach helps your team get started, then you’re just forging a new path to agility. | 
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For Distributed Team Success, Think Differently about WhenFor distributed teams, activities usually get scheduled based on constraints such as availability and time zone, but people don’t often take into account when the most effective time to meet would be. Neglecting people’s work tendencies and schedule preferences could make it harder for the team to be successful. |
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The Transition from Waterfall to Agile Is Essential, but What Are the Real Costs? We continue to hear from successful organizations that the transition from something like waterfall to agile is not just beneficial—it’s essential. There will be growing pains, but if you keep your eye on the prize and work to lessen the hiccups, you’ll find your organization in a much more competitive place. |
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